Shenzhen’s headquarters economy has been thriving in recent years as many technology giants, such as Alibaba, Baidu and Qualcomm, have set up regional headquarters in Shenzhen.

“Shenzhen is a city suitable for private companies because they can make full use of their market advantages and enjoy the city’s well-managed business environment, which is the main reason that more companies are relocating their headquarters to Shenzhen,” said Song Ding, director of the tourism and real estate research center at China Development Institute.

A report released by CIConsulting shows that Shenzhen proposed the plan of setting up a super headquarters base in the Shenzhen Bay area in 2013, which is expected to play the role as a functional center to help Shenzhen develop into a global city in the future.

Apart from the Shenzhen Bay headquarters base, the city is also planning to build four other headquarters bases in Futian CBD, Houhai CBD, Liuxiandong area and Longhua central area.

The city government has also introduced a range of favorable policies since 2008 to encourage eligible companies to set up headquarters in Shenzhen by offering them financial aid, tax breaks, office subsidies and other benefits.

A total of 133 billion yuan (US$19.6 billion) in taxation was cut for local enterprises by the city government last year, and the tax reduction reached 66.3 billion yuan in the first half of this year. A total of 20,000 applications for PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) were filed in Shenzhen last year, making up 46.39 percent of the overall applications nationwide.

Zhang Xiangye, a marketing manager of 3W Incubator, said Shenzhen is a very good choice for innovation-oriented companies because the city government is supportive of high-tech companies and the city has an international perspective and an open mind.

In November last year, Jack Ma announced that Alibaba’s office center in Shenzhen was put into use. Lenovo has invested 9 billion yuan in constructing a headquarters building in Houhai, with the construction expected to conclude in 2020. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook also showed an interest in building an R&D center in Shenzhen when he visited the city last October.

The Fortune Global 500 is an annual benchmark ranking of the 500 largest companies worldwide as measured by total revenue.

This year’s Fortune Global 500 companies employ 67 million people worldwide and represent 34 countries. Chinese firms filled an unprecedented 115 places on the Fortune Global 500 list this year, the 14th straight year that the country’s firms have increased their presence on the list.